#owl house analysis

[the-collector-blog]

some little analyses on the hollow mind memory panels posted by rebecca rose on twitter! transcription of the first image:

"all the black framed memories have gray and reddish spots, as opposed to the white framed ones, which have (if any) white spots. the only crystal clear memories (besides the repaired portal door) are of belos's childhood memories with caleb, before caleb met evelyn. the white framed memories become increasingly spotty from then on. this is likely because caleb leaving was traumatic for kid philip, so all the demon realm interactions and creating grimwalkers reminded him of what he viewed as the most painful event of his life. philip never moved on from that moment. the grimwalkers in his memories match the appearances of some of the apparitions he saw in the episode For the Future."

#pics #theory #the owl house #toh #owl house #hollow mind #hunter toh #hunter noceda #grimwalkers #philip wittebane #emperor belos #caleb wittebane #golden guard #evelyn clawthorne #belos #owl house analysis #toh analysis #toh theory #the owl house theory #owl house theory #for the future #toh meta #the ​owl house meta

[kittykichi]

Making my own post as to not start anything, but that post going around saying Titan Luz is bad writing because she was just handed her powers by God on a silver platter is a bad take. It's taking everything such at face value without the nuance that it is.

From the beginning, Luz discovers glyphs from other people and her surroundings. Eda, her mentor and guardian with light (and to protect herself and King from Eda's curse) , Ice from the wilderness in a moment of weakness when she desires to save her friends, fire from a rival when trying to stand up for her friend through a game. Like, Belos says the Titan "hid" magic from him while he "favors" Luz, and while I think that's actually ambiguous compared to the end (I'll get there) the point is that ultimately the power Luz has is that she appreciates others! She's open-minded, she desires connection. And that's what made her so radically different from him.

Now as for "God favors her and she is the chosen one so she gets ultimate power" I wanna step back and talk about how the Titan (alive in the liminal sense) is presented to us.

When we first meet him, he's not amazingly grand or regal. In fact, he's got dad bod, comfy in his robes, synonymous with a coffee cup in hand. He's just some guy. He's also KING'S FATHER. He's watched Luz become an older sister to his son, love King SO much that she was willing to give up her old life so he wouldn't face The Collector alone. Again, she values connection to others, and not just anyone, but his son. She deserves his power because she's proven time and time again that she is selfless, to fucking fault in fact. I won't even go into all the times she self-sacrificed to make others happy. So yeah, he chooses her. Wouldn't you?

And she doesn't take it eagerly either! She's full of self-doubt that she asks why? Let's compare this to the second episode where she eagerly believes she's been chosen by the wizard and ends up beefing it. She doesn't take that power lightly. King's dad responds, "I don't see anyone else around" and basically says that he thinks she'll just do fine, but she has to choose it to. This is not "handing it on a silver platter" situation. This is a mutual agreement. This is a dad wanting to help his son, fix his mistakes, nurture a caring soul. This isn't Luz "being the chosen one™". This is a young girl who's learning to accept herself, willing to forgive herself and fight for others.

And to say this is bad writing, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS PRETTY WELL KNOWN THAT THEIR SHOW GOT SIGNIFICANTLY CUT! is such a bad take, sorry. You can prefer other shows' writing, but this take isn't it, friend.

In short, Luz has always been hinted at to be good at glyph magic because she is a kind soul who values others and doesn't take selfishly. And "God" here is ultimately just some dude who cares about his son and fixing a wrong.

-mic drop-

#The Owl House #Watching and dreaming spoilers #Owl House analysis #Toh #Titan Luz #I literally just woke up and wrote this on my phone

[imsosocold]

Can't stop thinking how similar the Collector and Pip are. Neither have developed or grown in centuries. Despite being very physically old, they're still both very young mentally. Both are trapped in another realm, unable to get home. Both want to live an idealized concept of childhood and are willing do anything to attain it. Both have abandonment and trust issues and are so desperate to not be alone. All they do is repeat their past mistakes and get the same results but are unable to recognize what they're doing wrong. Their very existences are stagnant.

EDIT: MEANT TO ADD THIS AGES AGO BUT PIP AND COLE ALSO BOTH MISS HOES WHICH DON'T EXIST ANYMORE AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE GONE

#and if the theory that the Collector has a sibling is true there's even more parallels #mom I love them #the owl house #owl house #toh #the collector #the owl house the collector #owl house collector #toh the collector #emperor belos #the owl house emperor belos #owl house emperor belos #toh emperor belos #philip wittebane #the owl house philip wittebane #owl house philip wittebane #toh philip wittebane #the owl house analysis #owl house analysis #toh analysis #noelle's rants

[l-egionaire]

This is another topic that came up between me and my friend @ordinaryschmuck , but I feel like both in-universe and with the Fandom, the Owl House likes to act like it'd not some cliche fantasy series even though....yeah. it is. It uses a TON of cliches.

Like, one of the messages of the show is SUPPOSEd to be that the Boiling Isles doesn't work like a fantasy novel....but it does. It runs on a ton of fantasy tropes to the point even Luz points them out.

The bully who eventually becomes a friend/love interest? Check

The mysterious mentor with a past that ties them to the main antagonist or threat? Check.

The main villains second hand who isn't actually as evil as they seem and eventually betrays them? Check.

The magical system that conveniently sorts magic into multiple different categories? Check.

The main character often turns their enemies into allies using their kind heart and persuasion? Check.

One of the main characters has some secret hidden heritage that makes them extremely powerful? Check.

Even the second episode, which tries to say "Oh no, the main character isn't special or has any kind of magical destiny reason to be here" is proven to not technically be true. Because Luz inadvertently helped Belos rise to power, so she WAS destined to come the Boiling Isles in order to unknowingly play a part in its history.

And the thing is, I don't say that in a BAD way. Cliches don't necessarily make a series bad or anything. Like, I'm a big fan of Black Clover, and that is the most cliche filled anime in the universe. I'm not saying the Owl House is bad because it uses a lot of cliches. I just feel like both the show and fandom act like it's this big piece of subversive fantasy storytelling.....when it really isn't. It plays most fantasy tropes pretty straightforward. It's good and enjoyable, I just don't think it's that outside the box with its tropes or ideas. It's pretty standard fantasy fair.

#The Owl House #Owl House #ToH #Owl House Analysis #Luz noceda #eda toh #toh amity #amity blight

[dragonturtle2]

The Collector’s Magical Kingdom of Appropriation

The Collector’s reign over the Boiling Isles is actually a huge illustrated metaphor of cultural appropriation. Sure, there are the more blatant signs of full on colonialism and genocide. We plainly see the entire native population is either enslaved or hidden away in fear, while Collector takes their territory for himself. But The Owl House has always spent time being a mirror held up to the consequences of the fantasy genre, and the desires of its fans.

Think of the stars with eyes that Collector uses to decorate the Isles, and deploys as enslaver drones. Why the star shape? It’s not just a reminder of how he/they are technically a little kid. It’s the overriding aesthetic of the Collector society. They seem to live in the cosmos itself, their clothes have celestial bodies all over them, and each one of them apparently had a phase of the moon stamped on their faces. So in order to make the Boiling Isles more appealing to himself, Collector stamped his local iconography all over them. He/They took one look at the native architecture and design and decided it wasn’t suitable to his wants. Along with morphing the citizens into wood and plaster, he gave them redesigned and rebranded outfits. Even the local ecology and vistas were crudely plastered over, to the point that a newcomer like Camila Noceda couldn’t distinguish what elements were original.

And these aesthetics are designed to wage war with each other. The inhabitants and architecture of the Boiling Isles are modeled after the free-range bizarreness of Hieronymus Bosch. The most mundane utilities are steeped in the macabre, and nobody even blinks an eye at. This reflects how the Witch civilizations have mimicked the dead giant that gave rise to their existence. Possibly how they’re so at ease with the very concept of death, since they live with the reminder of it’s inevitability, and how it can bring beauty.

What Collector prefers is an 80’s G-rated fantasy kiddie cartoon in the vein of Care Bears.

There’s also the metanarrative aspect with how Luz’s entire story has been passed on. The Collector has spent all these months play-acting Luz’s life; all her accomplishments, and all her sacred bonds. Yes it was King’s suggestion; “the Owl House” game. But Collector obviously loves it. Yet Collector has nothing but contempt for Luz herself, even as a concept. He/They get pouty or mopey whenever she gets referenced. We’ve all seen this pattern of thought with bad faith arguments from chuds online, when it comes to certain franchises. Where they don’t actually have any problems with the story or the particular tropes, they just get pissy when the protagonist is a female or person of color. Collector calls Luz “that human,” like who she was born as is an insult.

The only person Collector treats anything like a peer is King, because he is also a species that reaches Godhood. All the lesser species can be treasured pets, at best. The Collector shares a mindset (or at least outward habits) with bigoted gatekeepers, where the joys of a story or franchise aren’t deserved by people who don’t remind them of themselves. Even if those different types of people are the ones who created the story in the first place. Their accomplishments are only worthwhile if HE can use them, including stamping his name and face on them. Colonialism doesn’t just steal the fruits of labor, they steal your stories of the past, present, and future.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:

As an aside, the actions of erasure also extend to the only remotely real bond Collector has, King. Which isn’t surprising given that he’s literally redecorating and playing games with the corpse of King’s dad. The process King’s gone through is assimilation by way of involuntary adoption. King is dressed in Collector clothes, lives in a Collector palace (built atop his dad’s resting place), and learns Collector lore as he reads Collector bedtime stories. Meanwhile, his mom and auntie are living behind bars while they scrounge for their prescriptions.

Although this isn’t quite the intended assimilation like Collector has done for the entire Isles and witch-kind; he/they are just offering King what they enjoy most, which mostly defaults to what they’re already familiar with. That’s just normal for kids, and people in general.

I believe this is a different kind of warning Collector poses to anyone who enjoys stories, and all us involved in fandom. Not just the terror of artistic gentrification. It’s seeking out stories, characters and settings to only fulfill our own desires and preferences. Searching for only baseline wish fulfillment can trap us in a bubble that stops us from growing. Then if something is unique or incongruous, we either throw it away or end up mangling the interpretation. And when art is swept aside and destroyed, we’re also degrading where it came from. It’s creator, it’s people, and it’s country.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:

When King first came into his Titan power, I thought it seemed strange that it was a vocal attack. Just because the actual physical noises of the Titan - speech, language, cries - have never had any prominence in this show. Descriptions or theories of how that species have never been included in the lore reveals, or the musings or sayings of the local populace. The closest we’ve gotten is Belos’s original lie, “I am the voice of the Titan.”

I assumed it was meant to contrast with King’s squeaky voice and grand boasts being his main source of comedy. And just basic symbology about puberty. But after writing all this, I’m convinced it was setting up how to save the day from whatever Belos and Collector will try to inflict.

King will stand with his mother and sister (and hopefully aunt and Hooty) and they ALL scream out that what they have is perfect. They scream to prove they exist, and they don’t need to write any coherent song or reasonable argument to prove or earn that right. Their identity, their self perception and self respect, is their power. The most basic of expression can annihilate oppressors, as long is it’s honest. And of course, coordinated noise is a great opportunity for some musician to get involved.

Big thanks to @marztheincredible for Beta’ing the preceding essay concerning this very histories and complex subject.

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #toh the collector #toh collector #king clawthorne #cultural erasure #tw cultural erasure #cultural appropriation #owl house Titan #tw colonialism #Youtube #toh king #toh titan #toh analysis #owl house analysis #owl house essay #marztheincredible

[friend0f0wlsandtitans]

I want to talk about this promo art a little bit

First, Luz. Right away I can sense her keeping to herself, pushing everyone out. Holding herself close as if she feels too scared to open up to anyone in the fear that they will abandon her. I've noticed that the way Luz deals with traumatic events is by first blaming herself, getting emotional, and then she gets angry and very protective, and then (from what I've seen from promo shots and art) she seems to be numb. She's bottled up her feelings for so long that she can't feel them correctly anymore. She always brushes off her own feelings to help other people and all that is catching up to her. Almost like when you grab a hose and block the water from coming out. It starts building up but you keep on squeezing it because you don't want to let go and let all those emotions out, but eventually they all start building up and it gets to be so much that it just bursts. I think that is exactly what has happened to Luz. She has shoved aside her feelings so many times that it just built up for months, maybe even years. And now she is having to deal with all of them. And it seems like her way of dealing with them is by isolation, pushing everyone away. What she needs is just someone to be there for her (also a lot of therapy). I speak from experience when I say that if she has someone that doesn't let her push them away, someone that will stick by her side even when she may get angry at them or just angry at the world in general, she will eventually be able to let them in. It takes time, a lot of time. But Luz has so many people around her who love her and are willing to listen, she just has to have the realization that these people won't hate her, that she can be her true self around them, that she doesn't have to push them all away. Now for Hunter To me it seems like he's scared, like he's in denial of his entire existence. And this definitely has to do with the fact he is a grimwalker, a clone. He feels like he's not his own person, he's having a full on identity crisis. It doesn't help that he is cloned after his abusers dead brother, though he doesn't know that yet. From the Season Three intro we now know that Hunter has now seen Celeb, the person he was cloned after. After seeing that he immediately cut his hair to look less like him. He wants to be his own person but i think he is really struggling with that. I have a feeling he might see even more visions of Celeb, maybe even have flashbacks or nightmares. By him covering his ears in this art, it's saying as if he doesn't want to hear anymore things about being a grimwalker, a clone. He is overwhelmed by all this information he's almost trying to shield himself from it. I think that all this shit that the both of them are going through is almost bringing them together. Because Hunter is the only one that knows about Luz helping Phillip, and Luz is the only one that knows Hunter is a grimwalker (besides Belos of course) So in a way, they feel as if they can talk to each other about it, which i think will be very helpful for both parties. One way or another though, the gang will find out. I definitely don't think they will be in any way mad at Luz or Hunter like they both think they will be. They will be accepting and kind and understanding because that's just who they are. If anything they will just be disappointed that Luz and Hunter felt like they couldn't tell them and that if they did they would hate them. I want to see Luz just sob in her mom and friends arms, she deserves it. And same goes to Hunter. They need a really big long hug and to be told that it's okay and that they will always be loved. (and again, lots of therapy)

#the owl house #the owl house season three #toh s3 #luz noceda #hunter toh #owl house analysis #luznoceda analysis #hunter toh analysis #these kids really need therapy

[bubomicronus]

@eeveearoace @casswithmywholeheart @borkthemork @sashimi-buttons @goodartitude @arcadiii @bunnybythesea @yourpersonaltimebomb

GUYS GUYS GUYS

Analysis / Implication post below the cut

WARNING: For the Future spoilers

Was going through my dash on mobile and accidentally swiped to the 'For You' section and saw this post.

And it suddenly got the gears in my head turning. Furiously.

BELOS' GRIMWALKERS ARE ESSENTIALLY LOW-POWER PALISMANS

Think about it.

We know that Grimwalkers are clones made by magic but what if he only used enough magic to bring them to life?

That would explain why Hunter had no inherent magic and relied on the mechanized staff so much.

Going with the linked post above, it also explains how Belos is able to consume palismans to keep himself alive.

It also brings to light another horrific thought.

Palistrom wood is scarce as of Hunting Palismen, and those that are left are heavily guarded. That said, it's safe to assume that Belos has been regulating the use of Palistrom wood.

Why?

All those Grimwalkers.

It would also explain how Hunter was able to use his Flash Step powers.

Hunter is made of Palistrom wood and part of Caleb's remains.

Flapjack joining with Hunter gave the latter the ability to use magic.

Real talk, it's 2 am here and I'm falling asleep and starting to lose what little track of mind I have. I'll have more of this when I can.

#the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh #toh spoilers #owl house analysis

[wiverntiles]

She's always talking about how she's gonna get home, how she's trying to figure out how to get home, how she won't have to pick between her home and the Boiling Isles, and once she's finally home, she says "I'm back" rather than "I'm home". Something tells me that wasn't intentional, but it's still something I noticed.

#owl house #the owl house #toh #i commented this under a youtube video so if you see that its me #its the anagram of my name lmao #owl house analysis #idk if that fits but #wivern's other things

[ahsokalegend]

Honestly The Owl House is a better show because it’s run time got shortened

#don’t act like it’s not true #we all know season 2 > season 1 #the creativity of the writers artists directors etc shine more within their mouse-overlord imposed limits #it’s not the ideal situation but the crew turned it into something incredible #and it allows the fandom to write amazing fics filling in the spaces #win-win situation #we get a tight plot and creative storytelling/worldbuilding #we give “what happened during the time skip’ fics #the owl house #excited for season 3 #last season soon to be best season #owl house analysis

[khyrrn-v2]

Guys go check out @i-am-a-scholar-of-magic if you like the Owl House. Their theories are amazing and istg I would die for their analysis.

#toh #owl house #owl house analysis #owl house theories #toh analysis #toh theories #toh recommendation

[novelist-becca]

Man.

Imagine being Eda here.

You did everything in your power to keep your daughter (who just cracked open your walls) safe and away from the fight. Argued with her about her safety and even helped carve her palisman.

Only for it to be in vain, because she ended up being killed by Belos anyway. And you got a front row seat.

You don’t even know what to do as you watch the light orbs that used to be your kid float away.

At this point, Eda doesn’t give two shits and let’s the owl beast take the reigns.

You can practically hear her grief and agony in “I don’t think I can control myself right now.”

#a lot of people talk about how Camila cried as a puppet at seeing the light orbs #but I don’t see anybody acknowledging how broken Eda must’ve felt at this point #the owl house #toh #toh spoilers #owl house #the owl house spoilers #eda clawthorne #luz noceda #edalyn clawthorne #eda the owl mom #found family #angst #analysis

[cartoonsofthecosmos]

there's something about eda going from despising school to running a school that hits deep. something about rebuilding instead of destroying. something about turning anger into positive change. something about recognizing that you have the power to be better than those who hurt you. you get what i'm saying

#the owl house #owl house #toh #toh thoughts #toh analysis #toh spoilers #the owl house spoilers #watching and dreaming #eda #toh eda #eda clawthorne #eda the owl lady #edalyn clawthorne

[maxiemumdamage]

I love that Luz resolves the problems of the show by being herself.

She convinces the Collector to try being kind, she realizes the hallucinations and wakes up Eva and King thanks to her fandom knowledge, she used her study of glyphs extensively in the final battle. She also tries to redo her dramatic entrance with better quips and makes dumb jokes with the Titan.

But more than that…technically, the Titan could have given their power to anyone. Anyone close to King or of better moral standing than Belos (which is a low bar) could have taken the Titan’s power and fought with it if they’d ended up in that trans dimensional space.

But it’s Luz, not because she’s the only one who can, but because she’s a good person who’s been there for King and the rest of the Isles.

Luz isn’t the Chosen One - she’s just the one who was chosen. There’s no magical destiny about her defeating a great evil — she just was a kindhearted person who had the tools to help and did.

And she did so much. For the Boiling Isles, and for a lot of weirdos on earth.

#toh spoilers #the owl house #toh #watching and dreaming #luz noceda #toh luz #toh analysis #toh finale #max.txt

[probablyhuntersmom]

Endless things to say about these two...

Luz means "light", while Hunter was named by Belos in accordance with witch hunters:

Their encounters with one another in Hunting Palismen and Hollow Mind would set future events in motion:

and also led up to Luz telling him "You're family now":

What happened in Thanks to Them reflects the Hollow Mind paintings shown below:

Belos took both of their lives, and we hear a contrast between Luz saying "I feel like I should be used to this by now, but...I still don't know what to say" and Hunter expressing the desires which he never dared to express in Belos's throne room, since the Titan had yet to pass the wisdom of choosing oneself to Luz:

They were pulled out of the water in which they were sinking, by the parent of their adoptive sibling (who also cared about them deeply):

The loved ones who revived them, passed them the last of their strength in order for these kids to have new life:

And King's dad asked Luz to choose whether she'd receive his life force which he offered, while Belos coercively violated Hunter to use his body like he would a puppet.

The things that Luz and Hunter went through, in parallel, underscore the clash between Belos who told endless lies about the Titan's will, and the Titan himself - King's father - who had very different plans for the Isles. Caught in between:

They were put through so much.

(The big comparison post I made before thinking of this analysis - it's just a picset and not a meta/analysis - is here: link)

#toh spoilers #luz noceda #toh hunter #the owl house #king's dad #camila noceda #toh flapjack #wittebane brothers #emperor belos #titan luz #possessed hunter #luz and hunter are siblings #toh analysis #loz writes a meta

[l-egionaire]

The Owl House vs Harry Potter magic: Execution vs Construction

So, in the past I've mentioned before that I think that Harry Potters magic system is better than the Owl House's main magic system (the one with the spell circles) because the Owl House's magic system just feels too simple to actually be interesting. I still hold true to that, but I have come to a new conclusion about my opinion regarding the two systems: I think the Owl House uses magic better than Harry Potter a lot but on the flipside the Harry Potter series has more interesting magic.

What I mean by that is that, The Owl House series tends to use magic in a much more interesting way then the Harry Potter series. Especially when it relates to magical combat. All of the magical duels in the series are fast paced, bombastic and have the characters using magic in interesting and creative ways. Just look at those two duels between Eda and Lilith.

Now compare these to the duels in the Harry Potter series.

For duels between wizards, they're honestly very dull. Mostly consisting of two people just jabbing sparks at each other. It's not very interesting to watch because the same thing sort of happens every time. Even though we see a lot of different spells in the series, the characters kind of stick to using the same few with little variation.

But, in return, the Owl House's normal magic system....is honestly not very good. In fact, if I'm being blunt, it's one of the worse ones I've seen. This talk from Eda is kind of the only real explanation we get on how the Owl House's magic system works and its....way too simple.

Witches just cast magic through making spell circles. That's its. That's the only real explanation of the magic we get. And...that's really boring. It's hard to really want to learn more because....well, there's never really anything added to it. We never get any more explanation on how the magic works. And then we see characters do things that go outside of those simple rules of magic that have been already been established, like bards or Lilith's ryhme spell, that just confuse things more. Because we're not given a good understanding of what the rules of magic are. It doesn't make me want to explore this magic system and makes it hard to grasp why anyone would have difficulty with it if its so simple.

Compare to that Harry Potter. There are some pretty concrete magic rules and when the magic is explained, it's shown why it might be difficult. The pronunciation of the spell, the wand movement, the focus of the caster, and the casters emotional state are all things that might effect how a spell is cast. Like this levitation spell scene.

The explanation Flitwick gives is more interesting and helps get a much better idea of how the magic works and why it might be difficult for these to grasp it, even if it's supposed to be simple than the explanation of Eda gives. It makes me want to learn more about how the mechanics behind how other spells work and what the requirements might be to cast them.

Ironically, the systems seem to have the exact opposite flaws to me. I like seeing the effects of the Owl House's magic system, but the actual system is too dull and vague to really be interested in learning more about. Whereas the Potter series doesn't do much interesting stuff with its magic, but I find it's magic system more complex and interesting to learn about.

That being said, I do think LUZ'S magic system (her glyphs and comboes) are just as if not more interesting than Potters....but the spell circle system just doesn't do anything for me.

And I know, some people might say "well, is the magic system really that important? It's not the point of the show." And I'd say yes. The magic system is very important. Any fantasy series that focuses on magic like this should have a good magic system, especially when most of the main characters use it. You need to make it interesting if it's a big part of the show.

If you want a good example of how a magic system is done perfectly? Go watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. Because they nailed it. Like they nailed everything about that show.

#The Owl House #Owl House #ToH #Harry Potter #HP #Harry Potter series #Harry Potter analysis #Owl House analysis #Youtube

[dragonturtle2]

Why don’t Luz and Lilith try to FIGHT Philip Wittebane?

Why not try to break or return the Collector moon discus, so that this blatant murderer doesn’t walk away from this with exactly what he WANTS?  There’s so many options in that moment to undo at least SOME the damage.  Or they could hold it ransom, and exchange information on the portal.  There’s nothing stopping them from doing anything. Lilith just gets in one satisfying punch, a meme-bait line…  And then for some reason they just leave.  Nothing is done in response.  As if the punch resolved things.

The argument they’re trying to preserve the timeline just doesn’t add up.   They’ve already failed at non-interference when they stopped him from getting beaten up and his journal torched.  Luz hasn’t even been able to listen to the entire journal; and thanks to the haphazard nature of the Echo Mouse, is it even all ordered like how it was written?  So some of the contents of the journal, and the context, is like a temporal Schrodinger's Cat.  No one has observed it (unless you count the magic stomach acid of the Echo Mouse), so it essentially doesn't exist.  (More spoilers below break).

Okay sure, Belos would know what's in that journal, he WROTE the thing.  But A) Luz can't exactly visit him to talk, B) his word is dirt, and C) Luz doesn't even know that Philip has lived on and so wouldn't think to ask.  As far as she should know, she's the most knowledgeable living person in the entire universe about Philip Wittebane.

I don't know if any physics in Owl House are written with a Copenhagan interpretation in mind, but it's not like Luz knows that either.  Nor would she much care; she's kind of shotgunning this whole time travel venture, in a very Luz way.

All that wouldn't count for bits of the journal filled with blatant lies anyhow.  Philip was caught red-handed fibbing in the journal about the arranged deaths of Lilith and Luz.  Blue Fang was confirmed as a "sacrifice."  Judging from the complete lack of shame or shock when confronted for any of this, Philip has done this over and over again.   So at the very least, any part of his journal talking about the the 'tragic loss' of his companions is a load of total *garbage*.   Therefore, if Luz and Lilith decided to haul Philip back to Ye Olde Bonesborough to stand trial, she has plenty of logical leeway to set back his plans.  Luz isn't aware of any proof that Philip finished the portal and made it home anyway.  Or that the portal was completed by HIS hands.  It's just a strong chance, which Luz is desperately chasing down so she can reunite with her mami.  We haven't seen the actual final chapter of the journal, and according to the Gravesfield legend Luz heard, the Wittebanes were never seen again.

But we don't have to make a convoluted argument about when counts as temporal leeway in the timeline.  It's fictional magic, I know people don't really care much about it.  Even I feel silly after just reading back what I just wrote.  What's really important... is that I can’t see Luz as someone who would set murderers loose, even if it would jeopardize her ability to return to Earth.  Or violate any cosmic ‘rule.’ That was the entire basis for her tragic sacrificial gambit at the end of Season 1.  She also makes it very clear what she thinks of "destiny" in this very episode.  Brushing off the tropes of Destiny was at the core of Owl House, which it made it beautifully clear at the series outset.

I really, really hesitate to use the term “plot hole.”  Partly because it’s been overused, and mainly because it’s association with bad faith or dumb critiques/rants.  A lot of times that term “plot hole” is applied leaps in logic made for the sake of entertaining the audience.   Like an extensive action sequence, with 10 minutes of martial arts instead of someone just ending it with a bullet (most of my fave franchises rely on this).  Maybe a ton of unrelated events lining up to make an intricate plan come together.  Or just a stroke of luck so a protagonist can make it out of a situation without death or dismemberment.

But the ending didn’t offer any of that.  When we leave the skull temple, we aren’t given a thought-out escape from Philip (even though he has impressive power), no conniving deception, and not even a fun chase sequence.   Lilith and Luz are just artificially lackadaisical, suddenly dumbed-down.  It certainly wasn’t because they were feeling forgiving of the jerk.  Lilith didn’t like the guy from the start, plus she is totally able to whoop his ass.

The worst explanation would be implying the characters really do give into the BS defeatist mindset of “it’s destiny, can’t be helped.”  Credit where it’s due, the show COULD be setting this up for Belos to work off of.  That he brings it off to show off to Luz or Lilith that ‘destiny’ and God are actually on his side.  It actually could be an F’ed up way of trying to convince Lilith to rejoin him.  “Do you see now, Lilith?  I HAD to break our deal and make you betray me, so you could enact your adventure in the Dreadwardian Era.  To act otherwise would unleash a temporal rupture of paradoxical chaos.”  You know how this bullshit would go.  I HAD to hurt you.  GoD hAs A pLaN 4 eVeRyOnE. Cults are happy to try and rope back the people who leave, even after treating them like feces for leaving in the first place.

If the time and/or animation budget was too tight, just have Lulu or Luz go: “Crud, we need to head back to the portal now before high tide!”  Even though that last option might have costs us an excellent baluster joke payoff.  The easy solution for preserving the continuity, and the run time, would be for Lilith to at least smash the artifact into pieces out of spite. (New idea: have her punch THROUGH the plate, INTO Philip’s face!) Then show Philip reassembling it in that awesome cave sequence.

#THE OWL HOUSE #toh season 2 #the owl house critical #philip whittebane #luz noceda #toh the collector #lilith clawthorne #owl house analysis #time travel plot mechanics #elsewhere and elsewhen #toh spoilers #emperor belos